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School Board candidates discuss construction, other issues

School Board Chairman Forrest Van Camp and his opponent in the Aug. 26 primary, Deerlake Middle School teacher Alva Swafford Striplin, discussed the school-construction controversy and other issues during a meeting with the Tallahassee Democrat editorial board.

School Board Chairman Forrest Van Camp and his opponent in the Aug. 26 primary, Deerlake Middle School teacher Alva Swafford Striplin, discussed the school-construction controversy and other issues during a meeting Wednesday with the Tallahassee Democrat editorial board.

Van Camp, first elected in 2008, said the School Board is taking very seriously allegations of improprieties involving school-construction projects, which were leveled late last year in a notebook compiled by an anonymous, self-described group of school employees and others.

Superintendent Jackie Pons has acknowledged that projects at a half-dozen schools were divided into smaller phases to come under a $2-million threshold in statutes requiring competitive selection of construction managers who oversee and bid out work. Pons, Van Camp and other school officials have defended the practice, saying it sped up work at the schools and helped local vendors during the recession.

Van Camp pointed out the School Board has hired an outside attorney to investigate all of the allegations.

“I can tell you right now that our attorneys have all the documents dating back to 2010 for every decision on every construction project that’s under review, and we will get to the bottom of it,” he said. “The School Board will hold the superintendent and all the staff accountable for anything that was illegal or did not follow rules of the Leon County School Board or the Department of Education or state statutes.”

Striplin said she supports dividing projects into smaller phases and helping local vendors. But she said she would have questioned projects that in some cases came in a penny under the $2-million mark.

“I think it’s sad that we’re saying we have to go back and review things,” she said. “We should make every decision with complete faith that we made the right decision, because we’re not spending our own money — we’re spending taxpayer money.”

Both candidates weighed in on whether Leon County’s school superintendent should be appointed or elected. In Florida, more than a third of school superintendents are appointed.

Van Camp said he would be open to the idea of an appointed superintendent, but he said voters have rejected it at least twice in the past.

“If the voters want to keep an elected superintendent, I think they need to have a voice,” he said. “If they want to go for an appointed superintendent ... then let’s let the voters decide which one they want.”

Striplin said she, too, is open to the idea.

“Growing and getting better is all about looking for new ways to do things,” she said. “And it might be time for Leon County to consider that.”

Both candidates said the School Board should serve as a check and balance for the superintendent.

“Once he makes a recommendation, it’s our responsibility to question that, which we do,” Van Camp said. “And if you watch our past history of the board, I’ve voted against more recommendations of this superintendent than all board members put together in the history of Leon County.”

Striplin said the School Board and superintendent “should definitely be a check-and-balance system. But I think the voters might say that it hasn’t been in the past, that we could do a better job of that.”

Van Camp, who began his teaching career in 1969 in Okaloosa County before becoming a longtime administrator of Leon County Schools, said he has the experience needed to guide the board over the next four years.

“My background has been a plus to this board because having worked in a number of areas, I have been the voice of everyone in this district,” he said. “I’ve been the voice of our bus drivers, our custodians, our teachers, our administrators, our parents, our kids. I’ve proven my experience. I’m undeniably qualified.”

Striplin, who became a teacher four years ago after working for nonprofit associations, said she would base her decisions on what’s best for students in the classroom and taxpayers. She again called for higher pay for teachers, saying Florida ranks 42nd in the country in teacher salary and Leon County ranks 52nd in the state.

“There is no more important issue to get behind than education,” she said. “It’s the future of Tallahassee. It’s the future of Leon County. It’s the future of America.”

After the editorial board meeting, the candidates got into a heated exchange over campaign contributions. Van Camp asserted that Striplin’s fiance, Randy Pridgeon, a divisional director for Leon County Schools, had raised $5,000 in donations for her.

“The money raising ... is sort of unprecedented that you’d have a top lieutenant of the superintendent working against an incumbent board member,” Van Camp said. “The public sees it and most of the people on the School Board see it, too.”

Striplin responded by saying, “You’re getting a little bit ugly now — this is ridiculous.”

Van Camp, who collected more than $30,000 in a fundraiser hosted last year by Pons, declined to comment further. Striplin later said Pridgeon had not helped her raise any campaign money.

“To insinuate that somebody raised that for me, especially Randy, is completely false,” she said.